Button-attaching machine



Sept. 9 1924. L58253 F. NY Ross 'BUTTON ATTACHING MACHINE Filed April16. 1923 7 sheets-sheet 1 Maz gmlmiafz Sept. 9 1924. 1;'5'08253 F. N.ROSS BUTTON ATTACH'ING MACHINE Filed April 16. 1923 v '7 Sheets-Sheet 2Jy' l ySmzmm F. N. Rass BUTTON ATTACHING MACHINE Sept. I 9

Filed April 1e. 192s 7 sheets-sheet l:s

gmlanfa/z "F. N. Ross BUTTON ATTACHING MACHINE Sept. 9 1924.

7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 16, 1923 uw w;

Sept. 9, 192,4. 1,508,253

F, N. Ross BUTTON ATTACHING MACHINE Filed April 16. 1923 7 Sheets-Sheet5 Sept. 9, 1924. 1,508,253v

F. N. ROSS BUTTON ATTACHINQ MACHINE Filed April 16. 1923 Sheets-Sheet 6Nfl m n i nl lll

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' F. N. ROSS BUTTON ATTACHING MACHINE Filed April 16. 1923 PatentedSept. 9, 1924.

UNIT STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK N. ROS, F PONTIAC, yMICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO BUTTON ATTACI-IINGMACHINE CO., OF PONTIAC, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION 0F MICHIGAN.

BUTTON-ATTACHING lIllLIACHIN'E Application filed April 16,

Machines, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to a button attach'- ing machine and moreparticularly to one which is used for attaching buttons toa fabric thatmay be readily removed from the fabric. f The stylev of buttons whichthis machine is adapted to attach fto the fabricare metal back buttonshaving an eye secured thereto. The said eye is adapted to be inserted'through a button'hole in the fabric, and the machine forms a wire loopor split ring through the said eye, which will prevent the button fromcoming loose from the fabric. With this construction, however,

one canv remove the button from the fabric by forcing the wire retainingring through the button hole in a similar way that an ordinary cuif linkis detached from the cuff. The object of the present invention is toprovide means whereby the operator may readily locate the button at theexactplace on the fabric where. it is to be attached. This machine isintended to eliminate anyv guess work asv to the locationof the buttonon the part of the operator, and to eliminate the waste which resultsfrom the operation of the present machines on the market.

A further object is'to provide a positive actuation of the cut-0H andejector plunger. `Furthermore, it is desired to have a machine that willabsolutely stop jat'one complete cperation; i. e., the attaching of onebutton to the fabric, and to prevent any likelihood ofl the machineoverrunning, vwhich prevents any likelihood of an accident.

Another object is to providecmeans for Vlocating the resting position ofthe button, just prior to the attaching operation, at the level of thework table, so that the eye of thebutton may extend through the buttonhole of the fabric as the operator lays the fabric upon thel Work table.

A still further object is to provide means whereby the machine may beset in an in- 192s.v sein-.i1 No. 632,310.V

operative position when a button is jammed in the plunger head 'or "feedchannel, so that theV operatorl may easily remove lthe jammed buttonwith a pair of pliers ors'ome other tool.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 isf a front lelevation of the 'rnachine.l Fig".2 is a top `plan view thereof. 60 Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly insection, taken on the line of Fig. 4.

F ig.l 4. `is a vertical section takenA online 4.-4jof Fig. 2. A .Y lFig. 1a 'is' a detail ofthe cam for rocking the cut-off'cam lever. f

Fig. 5 is a side elevational fview partly in sec-tion, showing the camaction" and the button feed.

Fig. 6 isa section on the line 646`of Fig. 5, showing the buttonfeedcontrol. f f Fig; 7 vis asection on the line 7,-7 of Fig. 3, showingthe plungerand'grippin'g ngers in the resting position.

Fig. Sis asimilar view showing the plunger lowered-'to receive a button.Figgl is a plan view ofthe top of the plunger. n

F ig'. 9- is'a detail of the wire feed mech-A anism. Fig. l() isa detailinV cut-off cam lever.

.Fig.'11 is a detail inpersp'ective of the ejectorcam lever. v

Fig. 12 is adetail in perspectiveof thel cutting tool. f

Fig. 13 is a detail in perspective of the ejector plunger.

14 is an elevational view Vof the button and wire fastening ring?. i. i

Fig. 15 is a botto-m plan view ofthe wire perspective of the ringyforming die. n

' Fig. 16is a section `on the line 16-16 of Fig. 15.

. This machine is an improvement upon the machine Vdescribed and claimedin. the prior Miner Patent No. 1,140,474issuedMay 25, 1915. In 'thispatent a method'and apparatus for forming a split wire ring through theeye of the buttonl is described. The machine is adapted to be drivenfrom any source of power, suc-h as an electric motor, or it may bedriven from an overhead drive shaft in a way similar to the driving ofmost of the existing machines. The shaft a may be driven through asuitable clutch mechanism the said clutch mechanism is 'arranged to begripped by the driving member c which in turn drives the shaft c throughonel complete revolut'OIl.

I reserve the right to claim the. clutch and machine control mechanismin my cope-nding application Serial No. 634,711, since this clutcharrangement forms no part. of the present invention.

y It will be sufficient to describe the clutch and tripping mechanism ina general way in ,this application". rThe driving shaft d is drivendirectly from an electric motor Lor b-y a belt connection to a maindriving shaft, and is continuously rotated. (Figs. y3 and 4). Thetripping mechanism consists of a stop lever c pivoted at to the machinesupport g. The clutch driven member Z) is provided with a projectingtooth it which` is adapted to be engaged kby the stop lever e. The shaftc has a flanged portion e' integral therewith and pivoted -at ,f is afinger y' which is adapted to engage with Athe notch 7c cut in the saidflanged yportion i, for the purpose that will hereinafter appear. r[heclutch member Z) is counterbored as at fue; a pin n is carried by thecrut-ch and pin is carried by the flanged portion e' of the` shaft whileinterposed between these two pins is a. com-pression spring A79.

A lever Q is pivote'd at r (Fig. 3) to the machine support, the saidlever having pivoted thereto a trip lever e, the said trip leve-rengaging with the stop lever e as `shown in Fig. 3, so that when ahinged foot lever 110 is depressed the rod t which can be attached tothe foot lever, will pull down on the lever q and thus pull the stoplever away from the tooth 7L that is carried by the `clutch member b. ltis obvious that when this clutch member is released the compressionspring p will force the clutch driven member in a clockwise `directionas indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3, thus causing the rollers u of theclutch to ride up on the cam surface o, carried by the shaft a, untilthe driving member c engages the said rollers and causes the shaft a torotate.

As the tripping lever s has -been pulled downwardly past the engagingshoulder on the stop lever c, the said stop lever e is allowed to bearupon the outer clutch surface and to again engage the tooth it at theend of the revolution. The machine will therefore stop at one completerevolution even though the rod t is held depressed or has been released.The spring` 'w attached to the rod t and the table 5c causes the rod andlever g to return to its initial position when released. lin no way canthe machine be caused to be overrun one revolution because when the stopc engages the tooth h at the end of the revolution, the driving member cwhich is continuously running will disengage itself from the rollers udue to the momentum of the linachine. in instant later the linger willenter the notch 7c. lt is seen thus, that the shaft a is caused to stopwhen the lever e engages the tooth z 'by stopping the rotation of theclutch roller retaining member l) (Fig. 3). The shaft a. will continueto rotate, causing the rollers a to fall back on the cam surfaces e,thereby disenga'ging theI driving member from the driven member. rlheadvancing of the shaft a after the roller retaining member has stoppedcauses the spring p to be compressed and the fingerj engagingin thenotch 7e at the proper time holds the spring under restraint. Also, asthe spring bears on the pin 0 carried by the flanged portion c', ltheresulting pressure taken by the finger and the notch la', the springwillrotate the roner retaining member in a clockwise movement when the saidroller retainingy member is released by disengaging the stop lever cfrom the tooth 7L as described.

Keyed to the shaft c at (Fig. 4) are a number of cam discs, l, 2, and 4;an annular camgroove is provided on the ram l, and the cam lever 6 foractuating the cut-ting `tool, which has a lug portion 7 that engages inthe groove 5, is positively actuated by this cam. 'A lug 8 securetv tothe face of the cam (Fig. 4a) which causes the eut-oft lever 6 to rock,forcing the cutting tool 9 inwardly at the proper time, (Fig. 2).

A cam groove l0 is formed by the `cam discs 2 and 3 for guiding theejector Acan lever ll.. The cam 4 actuates vthe yieldable plunger leverwhich will be more fully described later.

rlhe discsll, 2, V3 and 4 are rivetedl together as at 13. rllhe shaft 4ais journaled as at 14 andj'l in the machine support g, (Fig. 4). A gear16 is keyed on said shaft, said gear being adapted to engage with theordinary counting mechanism which need not bey described or shown las itforms no part of the invention. A. `fly wheel V17 is secured to the end4of shaft a.

Cam 2 is provided with a circumferential groove 18 around its periphery.vThis groove is narrower and of less depth `for a short distance as at19, having a cross secn tional area substantially the same as the wire20, which is fed into the ring forming device 2l; the cam 2 co-actingwith the roller 22, 9) will engage the wire by friction and force thesame forward to give the correct amount of wire used in forming the virering for attaching the button to the fabric. The wire spool 23 ismounted on a bracket 24, secured to support g (Fig. 9) a stud bolt 25 onwhich the spool 23 r0- tates is carried by the bracket; a spring 26engaging between the bracket and the washer 27, forces the head 28 ofthe bolt down upon the spool, tending to retard the free rotation of thespool and to prevent the wire becoming slack. The wire guide member 29is also supported from the machine support and has a bend 30 therein,which forms additional means for preventing the wire becoming slack; Apredetermined length of wire is thus pulled from the spool at everyrevolution by the restricted portion of the groove .19, and fed into theringforming device 21, hereinafter described. The cutting tool 9 cutsoff thev wire at the proper time, being actuated by the lever 6, alreadydescribed. As soon as the cut-off plunger has returned to its initialposition, the ejector plunger 31 is-arranged to .be forced downwardly bythe cam lever 11 t0 eject the button and the wire ring (see Fig. 16).

The hollow plunger (Figs. 5, 7 and 8) which receives and supports thebutton is composed of a sheet metal shell 32, substantially square incross section. A supporting die 33 is secured to the top of the shell,and the button is adapted to fit in the seat portion 34 of thesupporting die 33. The plunger is provided with a slot 35 (Fig. 5)extending part of the way down from the top, and the shell 32 is prO-vided near its lower end, with a pin 35a. The plunger-actuating lever 36is pivoted at 37 and is provided with a yoke member 38, engaging the pin35L to raise or lower the plunger. A cam lever 39 also pivoted at 37carries a roller 40, which engages the cam 4; the cam lever 39 isprovided with a rearwardly extending arm 41 and the plunger-actuatinglever 36 is provided with a rearwardly extending arm 42. A bolt 43secured to the arm 42 extends vertically through a hole 44 in the arm 41and a takeup spring 45 surrounds the bolt shank bearing against the arms41 and 42, tending to force the roller 4() against the cam 4. Theplunger actuating mechanism is adjustable by the lock nuts 46 threadedonto the end of the bolt 43. This take-up spring acts as a safety deviceso that if a button is jammed at the head of the plunger the spring willcompress as the rroller rides on the cam 4 and there` is no danger ofbreaking the plunger or any. of the machine parts. j

An emergency lever 47 (Fig. 2) is pivoted at 48 to the machine supportg, and is p-rovided with an inwardly extending pin 49, which is locatedabove the acuating lever 36, (see also Fig. 5) and the plunger may beforced downwardly by pressing the emergency lever 47 down, so that theoperator may remove a button that is jammed in the machine.

Now refer to Fig. 7. The machine support g 'is provided with a verticalguide 50, in which the plunger is guided and a cover plate 51 is securedon the face of the support by screws 52, (Fig. 1) to hold the plunger inthe guide. The machine support is provided with a pair of slots 52a(Figs. 7 and 8) on both sides of the guide way and a pair of fingers 53,.are each pivoted on a pin 54, and contained within one of the slots52a. A spring 55 tends to force these fingers inwardly, inward movementof said fingers being limited by the fact that the said fingers abut theinside face of the slotted portion 52a, (see Fig. 8) as indicated at 56.

As shown in Fig. 8, the' plunger is positioned at its lowest point oftravel. The fingers 53 pressing inwardly, provide a. gap 57 between theends of the inwardly extending arms 58 of the lingers 53. The buttonslides by gravity onto the top of the plunger from the chute 70 (Fig. 5)the head of the button resting in the seat portion 34 of the support ingdie 33, and the eye of the but-ton is guided in the space formed by thearms 58. In Fig. 5, the plunger is not in the lowermost position when itis adapted Ato receive the but-l ton from the chute. This locates thecor rect position of the button and its vertical extending eye, so thatthe wire ring may be `accurately formed thro-ugh the said eye let in away to be described. i plate 51 is provided at the top with an in wardlyextending plate portion 59 (Fig. 5) a slot 60 (Fig. 2) being provided inthe upper portion of the said cover plate, and a vpair of laterallyextending ears 61 (Fig. 7) are carried bythe cover plate. A pair ofngers 62are pivoted onpins 63, carried by theears 61 and springs 64 aresecuredto the fingers 62 and cover plate 51, tending to pull fingers 62downwardly to clamp the button between the inner ends 65 of thefingers62, and the v supporting die 33, as shown in Fig. 7.

Referring again to Fig. 8, it will be seen that the button is receivedonto the supporting die33 and centrally located by the seat portion 34,the head of the button lying below the arms 58, of the fingers 53. Onupward movement of the plunger the button is carried upwardly, the arms58 are forced outwardly (Fig. 7) until the arms 58 slip ofi' theb-utton, the springs 55 forcing the arms 58 against the sides of theplunger shell 32. The inner ends 65 of the fingers 62, however, stillengage the top of the button as shown in Fig 7. They continue to clampthe button to its seat on further movement of the plunger upwardly, andthe said fingers 62 slip off the edge of the button, a moment before theeye of the button is inserted in the ringforming device 21, (as shown inFig. 1). The said lingers 62 are The cover Lacasse arranged to rock inthe slot 607 provided in the cover plate 59. lWhen the plunger iswithdrawn downwardly the arms 58 of the fingers are forced inwardly overthe top of the plunger` and take a position as shown in Fig. S, at whichtiine a button is received onto the head of the plunger, the plungerthen rising to a position as shown in Fig. i', which ispthe idlingposition of the machine.

Referring to F 5 and 6, a chute 70 connected to a hopper (not shown) isprovided with a longitudinal slot 71 in the top face, and an enlargedcentral hollow portion 72, the button beinel guided therein. A controlmember or selector 73 pivoted to the nnderside of the chute on the stud7'? is constructed as shown in Fig. G to extend over the top of thechute and is provided with downturned ears 7e and 75 which are adaptedto intercept the eye of the button. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, thedownturned ears 711 and 75 are arranged to separately intercept the lineof buttons. lt/lounted on the stud shaft i7 is a spring pressed lever 76which has the downwardly extending arin 78 adapted to engage a cani 797secured to the side face of the cani disc The cam 79 will force the armsZ8 outwardly rocking the lever 76 and forcing the button controlineinber 73 inwardly in the direction of the arrow as shown in Fig. G.This will cause the downtnrned ear 74 to assume the position as shown indotted lines of Fig. 6, releasing the button so that it may slide downthe chute; but when the downturned ear Tft is pushed ont of the way, thedownturned car Z 5 is positioned so as to intercept the string ofbuttons to prevent more than one button sliding down the chute. @n thereturn of the control member 73 to its initial position, the downturnedear 5 is moved to a non-interfering position, but the ear 74e ispositioned in an interfering position7 which allows the string ofbuttons to slide downwardly only a short distance or until the ear 74:again intercepts the string as has been described.

Secured to the inner end of the chute 7() are a pair of plates 80, whichare what l terni an injector. The end of each plate 80 is beveled as atSi. so that if a button does not slide squarely onto the supporting die33, it will be caused to do so on the initial upward movement of theplunger because of the fact that the et of the button will he caused toengage this beveled surface 81 and this forces the button onto thesupporting die.

rlhe apparatus and method of actually securing the button onto thefabric by means of the wire ring` engaging through the button eye formsno part of the present invention, but it is thought advisable to briefly.describe this operation.

rllhe ring-forming device 21 (Fig. 16) is provided with a vertical hole88 therethrough in which the bushing 89 is fitted. The ring-forming die91 is fitted within this bushing. The wire is fed through a hole (Fig.15) in .the head and the hole 100 in the bushing, said hole being inalignment with the hole 90. 'lhe bushing and die are secured to the headby means of a pin 101a (Fig. The eye of the button is forced into theslot 92 and the wire is pushed and caused to travel ltwice around-thespiral groove 93 cut in the die and at the proper time it will be cutofi by the cutting tool 9, which is properly timed by the cam 1.

rlhe flattened wings 911 of the ejector 31 are slidable in the slot 95in the stitchingl die, and after the wire ring has been cut the ejectoris forced downward by the cani groove 10vand lever 11, to eject thering' and button frointhe ring forming head.

ln the operation of the machine the -operator presses on the foot. lever110, the rod t being pulled downwardly, which actuates the trippingmechanism. This causes the machine to complete one operation. The outtonalready has its eye inserted througl'i the button hole of the fabric, bythe oper-` allor, The plunger when in its highest po sition causes thebutton to enter the head E217 f so that the wire that is also fed intothe said head, will be caused to coil through the said eye. The cuttingtool is actuated to cut the wire ring at the `proper time and then theejector is actuated immediately after the withdrawal of the cutting tooland plunger7 so that the eye of the button and the wire ring will beejected from the ring-forming device, and the fabric can then be movedover by hand in readiness for attaching an other bntton.

ln the operation of this machine, there is no `danger of the operatorfailingto pass the eye of the button through the button hole of thefabric, as 'in the idling position of the machine. the button ispositioned as shown in Fig. i", on a level with the top of the inwardlyextending` portion 59 of the cover plate 51v which l term the worktable. lhe eye of the button will entend slightly above the work table,and the fabric may be very easily placed over the button and the buttonhole located around the eye of the button. When the button hole is notpositioned directly over the eye of the .button5 the said eye would tendto pierce the fabric when the ring-forming is in "c-aress, result ing indefective worlnnanship. This is nn-l desirable because. it causes thegarment on wnich the buttons are attached to be declared a second ln mymachine, when the button hole is not positioned directly over the eye ofthe button the safety device as described functions and allows thespring l5 to compress lill@ and relieves the tension from .the plunger32, and as a result,the eyefof'the button v fastening device to thebutton after it is put through thefabric and is lifted, substantially asdescribed.

2, In a button attaching machine, the combination of a member forsupporting the fabric, means for supporting a button when t-he machineyis at rest substantially level with the fabric, said means droppingbelow the levely of the fab'ric to receive the button and rising. abovethe level of the fabric and momentarily stopping in such raised positionwhen the fastening device is secured to the button, and means forapplying a fasten'- ing device to the button when the same is raisedabove the' level of the fabric, substantially as described. y l

3. In a button attaching machine, the combination of a table forsupporting' a fabric, a button feeding chute, dischargingat a positionbelow the table, a securing-device 'forme ing member above the table,and means for talliing the button from the discharge end of the chutebelow the table presenting the button when the machine is idle at thelevel of the table and lifting the button to the securing device formingmember when the machine is started.

4L, In a button attaching machine, the combination of a table forsupporting the fabric.l a securing device forming means supported abovethe table, a button feeding chute discharging below the table and aplunger for receiving the button from the feed chute below the tablepresenting the button at the level of the table when the machine is idleand raising the button into the securing device forming means when themachine begins operation.

5. In a button attaching machine, the combination of a table forsupporting the fabric, a button feeding chute discharging below thetable, a ring forming means including a die located above the table, avertically reciprocating plunger provided with a button receiving seat,and means for operating the plunger so that it receives the button fromthe chute below the table presents the button at the level of the tablein idling position of the machine and raises the button into the ringforming mechanism when the machine begins to operate.

6. In a button attaching machine, a table for receiving the fabric, asecuring device forming member above the table,` meansfor raising thebutton and the rfabric above the table so the shanlr` of the buttonenters the securingy device forming means, and means for clamping thebutton vonto said raising means during said raising operation. y

'i'. In a button attaching machine, the combination of a table forreceiving the fabric, a plunger for raising the fabric and button fromthe table, means for forming a securing device on said button when insuch raised position. and fingers for clamping the but-- ton during suchraising operation. y

8. In a button attaching machine, the comM bination ofa fabricsupporting table, a

plunger for taking the button from below the table raising it to thelevel of the table in the idling position `of the machine and thenlifting it above the table when the `machine begins to operate, fingersforoguidingthe shank of the button onto'the end of the plunger when *invits lowermost position, and another set of fingers for holding thebutton inA its proper position on the end of the plunger during theraising operations.

9. In a button attaching machine, the ,combination of a table,asupporting member below the table, a plunger guided in' said supportingmember for taking the button from a position below the table and raisingit above the table, one or more fingers for positioning the button shankproperly on the end of the plunger when the plunger is in 'its'lowermost position, and one or more lingers for clamping the button ontothe end of the plunger, the said fingers being pivoted to the saidsupport.

l0. In a button attaching machine, the combination of a fabricsupporting table, a ring forming device supported above the sol table, asupport below Ithe table, a plunger the table into they ring-formingdevice, .av

pair of spring controlled fingers pivoted to the support for properlypositioning the button on the end of the plunger when discharged fromthe chute, and a pair of fingers for holding the button to the end ofthe plunger when being raised, said fingers pivotally supported on thesupport. .p

11. In a button attaching machine, the combination of a button feedingchute, a plunger provided with a button seat reciprocating across themouth of said chute and an injector device located at the mouth of saidchute operating in connection with the movement of said plunger topositionthe button on the end of the plunger when same does not slideinto such positionwhen `discharged from the mouth of the chute,

l2, In a button attaching machine, the combination of an inclined buttonfeeding chute, a plunger reciprocating vertically across the mouth ofsaid chute and provided with a button receiving seat and a blocl; havingan inclined surface 81 located at the end of the inclined chute, saidinclined surface arranged to engage the edge of the button when liftedby the plunger so as to properly position iton the button receiving seatif this has not been done initially.

i3. ln a button attaching machine, a button feeding member, a plungerfor taking the button from the feedingmember and lifting the same,automatically, yielding means for actuating the plunger and manu-` allycontrolled means for operating the plunger in oase this is necessary toreturn the plunger from a stuck position.

la. In a button attaching machine, the combination of a buttondischarging chute, a securing device forming means, a plunger for takinga button from the chute and delivering it upwardly into the securingdevice forming means, yielding means for automatically actuating theplunger in this lifting operation and a manually controlled means fordisengaging the plunger in oase it becomes stuck.

l5. ln a button attaching machine, the combination 0f a buttondischarging means, a securingedevice forming means, a Aplunger fortaking a button from the button discharging means and lifting it intothe securing device forming means, means for automatically actuating theplunger including a yieldable connection which yields under unusualstrain, and manually con trclled means for releasing the plunger Whenthe same jams.

1 6. In a button attaching machine, the combination of a member forfeeding buttons, a securing device forming means, a plunger fory liftingthe buttons' from the feeding means to the securing device formingmeans, automatic means including a yieldable connection for actuatingthe plunger, Said yieldable connection yielding under unusual strain,and an emergency lever foi` returning said plunger to its initialposition When the 4saine jams.

1 7. lil a button attaching machine, the combination of.v a buttonfeeding chute, a ringforniing device located above the discharging endof the Chute, a plunger for lifting the but-t0n from the discharging endof the chute into the ring-forming means, an autcrnatic operator for theplunger including a pair of rocking levers connected in drivingengagement by a spring that yields under unusual strain, andan'emergency lever which can be engaged With one of the first mentionedlevers to release the plunger when the 52H11@ jams.

'In 'testimony whereef .he has afXed his signature.`

rnnnnnrcn N. nose.

